GRAND CANYON, ARIZONA
BOUCHER to HERMIT LOOP HIKE
OCTOBER, 1981
INTRODUCTION
This was written in January of 1985 and concerned my first
backpacking excursion in the Grand Canyon. The hike
actually took place in October of 1981 with my good friend
Robert Wehrman. At the time, neither of us had any
foresight to take any trail notes, hence the details may be
a bit lacking, but since my purpose was to have a written
account of the first of several hikes here, I'm glad I took
the time to recollect on this one.
GETTING
THERE and PREPARING FOR THE HIKE
According
to my calendar, we left on Saturday, October 3. We stopped
in Needles for dinner at a coffee shop, Hobos or something
like that. We arrived after dark at the south rim of the
Grand Canyon, staying that night in a room of the Grand
Canyon Motor Lodge. Since we had eaten dinner earlier, my
guess is that we probably retired soon after arriving.
On Sunday morning we arose fairly early and did our final
packing for the trip. I remember realizing at this point
that I may have allowed myself too many things for the trip
and was beginning to wonder if I was going to be able to do
it. We had breakfast at the cafeteria, stopped by the motel
room before checking out, and drove to the shopping center
to purchase last minute supplies. While there, we spotted
sturdy looking hiking sticks and purchased one each. It
turned out that the trip would have been considerably more
difficult if we had not done this. (Note:
on my most recent hike here in 2008, twenty-seven years
later, I'm still use this very hiking
stick). We
drove to the trailhead at Hermits Rest. It was raining
lightly this morning and we discussed alternatives, but
decided to stay with our itinerary. We parked the Jeep, and
put on our packs with help from each other. The pack was
very heavy and I questioned whether I really wanted to do
this. Walking into the mist, we took our first steps into
the canyon.
DAY
ONE - DOWN INTO THE GREAT UNKOWN
The first part of the Hermit trail goes thru the Kaibab and
Coconino formations and is fairly steep. There were steps
in the side of the cliff we were descending, and my knees
were giving out rapidly under the weight. The rain was
making the trail slippery and several times I slipped,
actually falling one time. I remember reaching the point
where my legs wouldn’t support me. I could bend them
to about the halfway point, but beyond that they would
collapse from the weight. It was from this that I fell.
Bob’s knees were also beginning to suffer. About an
hour down the trail we decided to rest our tired legs and
backs. We both had used the ‘facilities.’
Shortly after our rest, if not immediately, we came upon
the junction with the Dripping Springs trail. I
didn’t see it, nor was I really looking for it. I was
relying heavily on Bob, since he had studied the route of
this trip more extensively than I had. It was not a very
well marked trail and I probably would have passed it up.
The Dripping Springs trail is at the head of Hermit Gorge
and is fairly narrow as it is cut into a steep wall. I have
had many shuddering thoughts about this trail since then,
as the drop-off is considerable. The beginning of the
Boucher trail was very unclear and I don’t even
recall the junction. Perhaps Bob might. I do recall it
being a virtually non-existent trail, having to push our
way through brush. The soil was very slippery from the rain
and my boot soles were packing up with mud so that my
traction was hampered even further. It had rained most of
the day and we were both soaked. Later in the afternoon,
when we were approaching our camp for the night, the rain
was letting up and the clouds were really spectacular. The
view from this level was far superior to what you can see
on the rim. I took a photograph of Bob overlooking Hermit
Gorge.
We camped near Yuma Point the first night. We were both
exhausted and quite wet from the rain. It was a good thing
the temperature was decent or we would have been in
trouble. We had dinner, watched the sunset and retired to
an almost cloudless sky. I slept very well, thank you.
DAY
TWO
The sunrise Monday morning was spectacular and I took
several shots with my large, heavy Nikkormat I had lugged
along. We had breakfast and headed on down the trail. My
pack seemed to have gained weight overnight.
The time went fast crossing Travertine Canyon. I
don’t remember anything outstanding about this leg of
the trip. We stopped for lunch at the saddle between Cocopa
Point and Whites Butte. We had soup, granola, Bob’s
homemade jerky and candy. Bob’s knees were really
beginning to annoy him. We took short naps. The trail
headed down a rather steep drainage from here. It was rocky
and the hiking sticks were a must. I remember looking back
up the drainage once we reached the bottom and remarking
that I couldn’t see where we had come down. We
reached the junction with the Tonto Trail. By now the
bottom of my feet were killing me. The last half a mile or
so I had to stop several times, and at one point I thought
about camping right where I stopped. We eventually made it
down to Boucher Creek where we were going to camp for two
nights. We had dinner and retired, once again bushed. The
temperature was cool but quite nice. I watched the bats
flit about catching their evenings meal. The stars were
incredible.
DAY
THREE
After breakfast the next morning we explored our immediate
area, discovering the remains of Boucher’s cabin and
mine. We took a day trip down the canyon to the Colorado
River. I was amazed at the thick reddish-brown color of the
water. It was to stain my shorts, under-shorts and t-shirt.
Eating lunch, we stayed here for the better part of the
afternoon, watching several raft parties running the rapids
just below the mouth of Boucher Creek. We swam a little bit
and took in the sun. Back at camp we washed up and prepared
another fine evening meal. Once again, laying in my
sleeping bag, I fell asleep watching the bats and stars.
DAY
FOUR
The next morning we arose fairly early, packed up and
headed for Hermit Camp. On our way out we encountered a few
people, among them an older gentleman who despite his age
was still going strong, although slower than his
companions. They were headed up the Boucher trail and that
steep drainage we had come down the day before yesterday. I
should be doing so good at that age. The climb to the Tonto
Plateau was fairly easy. Once on the trail we were rewarded
with spectacular views of the inner canyon and the river
below. The weather had been extremely good and was actually
quite warm on this trail. We stopped at one point to take a
self-portrait on a rock that jutted out over the canyon. It
was practically straight down several hundred feet to the
river. I felt the urge to crawl up to the edge. Once at the
edge I had the feeling of being sucked into the chasm. I
retreated to the safety of the trail. We had lunch as I
recall and just as we were getting started, a man appeared
on the trail heading east. He had started out I believe on
Bass Trail and I don’t remember where he was headed.
I do recall that he had been on the trail for several days.
He had a curious arrangement for his drinking bottle. A
small plastic tube led from a bottle in his pack and was
attached at the side of his frame so that he could merely
suck on the tube to get water. This way he could walk and
drink at the same time. A good idea we thought.
It took a little longer than we expected to get to Hermit
Camp, but we arrived with plenty of light to spare. It was
along this stretch of the Tonto that I realized how my
pacing and breathing affected my performance. I believe it
was here that I felt I perfected it. Just before we came
upon Hermit Gorge I realized that my hat had fallen off my
pack. I laid my pack down and retraced our steps for about
fifteen minutes until I found it. Fifteen minutes back. By
now Bob’s knees were really hurting him and I heard
him cursing them several times. We had been rationing out
aspirin for him and hoped that it wouldn’t get any
worse.
Once at Hermit Camp we picked a good spot and although
according to our itinerary we were only to be there one
night, we discussed staying another day so that Bob could
rest his knees. We picked a spot above the rest of the
designated camping area. It was cornered by two larger
boulders and provided plenty of space for us to spread out
our junk. There were two other parties in the area, one of
them being large and noisy. This we weren’t too keen
on, but nonetheless it was a picturesque, comfortable spot.
We had dinner, and once again watched bats and stars for a
long time. I enjoyed looking at the heavens through my
binoculars.
DAY
FIVE
The next morning we arose not too early and headed down the
canyon to the river. It was a spectacular canyon, one with
much water and hence many little pools. I recall attempting
to bathe in one of these, but the cold water in the shade
of the canyon caused me to cut short my bath. There were
many fascinating small side canyons with well worn steep
chutes that indicated to me that when raining this canyon
could turn into a less than desirable place to be. At one
point we encountered a spring seeping from the canyon wall
that was forming small stalactites. A gigantic section of
cliff had fallen from above and wedged itself between the
canyon walls. It was considerably bigger than a average
size single story house. It must have made a horrendous
sound when it fell. All around it was debris that had come
down with it or scattered from it. There was much plant
life in this canyon also. Reeds, grasses and thick brush in
some areas were abundant. Once at the river we did much the
same as we had done two days before, soaking in the sun and
watching the river and the things in it floating down. We
had lunch of jerky (the supply was getting low), granola
and Wylers. We headed back up the canyon in the late
afternoon.
This was our last night in the canyon. I remember having
the feeling that the time had gone far too fast. We
discussed our plans for the morning. We also discussed the
fact that we had far too much food left over and even
discussed leaving some of it behind for a future trip.
Reason prevailed however and we decided to carry the extra
food out. After dinner I remember laying in my sleeping bag
just staring at the stars wishing this experience could
last longer, or at least that I had made better use of my
time while here. I fell asleep for a good night’s
rest.
DAY
SIX
At daylight we had a light breakfast and started out on our
long journey up. On the way up Bob spotted some deer. There
were other people going up also. In particular I remember
this one woman who came up from behind us and passed us as
if we were just crawling along. I suppose we were. We
stopped several times for rest and water. It is a
consistently steep trail with long stretches between
switch-backs. Where the trail goes up through the Redwall
at Cathedral Stairs it gets very steep. I remember feeling
very fatigued at this point. Shortly after this we stopped
in a shady spot. My pack practically fell off my back.
Trying to get it back on was a struggle. When we reached
Santa Maria Spring we were surprised to see so many people
resting under the shelter. We walked a little further and
sat down for lunch. I remember getting a little cool after
sitting there a while. After lunch the rest of the walk was
uneventful and we were getting very tired. The last stretch
of the trail was up through the Coconino and Kaibab once
again and, as it was when we came down, very steep. My pace
was down to a crawl for a period of time, but I kept it up.
I was wishing that this torture would end soon. It finally
did, and when we reached the top we were greeted with
cheers from others that had come up earlier. The walk to
the Jeep was a welcome one and I took my time. We took our
packs off, put them inside and congratulated each other for
our accomplishment.
We drove back to the motel, checked in and showered. We had
a celebration dinner at the restaurant and filled ourselves
up on steak and wine. We talked about the adventure. Back
to the motel and to sleep. A nice soft bed really felt
good.
DAY
SEVEN - BACK HOME
The next morning we awoke, ate breakfast and checked out.
As I recall we drove down to Grandview Point and back, then
headed for Flagstaff. We saw many colorful trees turning
colors along the roadside. We had lunch in Flagstaff and
headed home via Prescott, stopping occasionally to take
photographs. At sunset we stopped for dinner in Needles at
a Mexican restaurant and then drove on home after
dark.